itsnoraspage

savory pancakes with tofu:

Not everyone worships sweet meals as much as I do. That is why I wanted to create a savory version of one of my favorite sweet dishes, huge pancakes with marmalade. This variant with tofu and vegetables cased in a aromatic savory dough is perfectly fine for me as well.

ingredients:

200g oat meal
2 tbsp of oat flakes
30g spelt or whole wheat flour
250 ml of oat milk (if you want to reduce the calories and use tap water instead use 300 ml)
150 ml mineral water
salt
garlic powder
salt seasoned with herbs („Kräutersalz“)
dried oregano
dill
1 white onion
1 clove of garlic
3 medium sized carrots
1 rod of radish (size of a carrot)
1 leaf of leak
1 block of smoked tofu

instructions:

mix the following ingredients for the pancake dough: oat milk, oat meal, oat flakes, mineral water, flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp herb salt, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp garlic powder and a little bit of dill
put the dough in a pan and form a proper large pancake
switch sides as soon as you can see bubbles and a thicker consistency on the top
in another pan fry 1 cut onion and crushed and chopped clove of garlic in some plant based oil until they turn a little brown
set them aside while fermenting the cut carrots, radish and leak with the herb-seasoned salt and some more oil for about 5 minutes with the lid on
when the carrots are easily to poke through set them aside as well and sauté the cubes of tofu with oregano and garlic powder unter it is a little crusty
mix the all of the vegetables with the tofu and ad 1 can (approximated 200ml) of oat cuisine and season it once more to your will
Fill the huge pancakes with the vegetables and ENJOY! 🙂

my personal experience with the topic of physical health:

Many people, more than you would think or know about, have the burden or the lifelong mission to fight a certain disease without the public recognizing. Sometimes reading of the experience from others is a way to identify and see that other people are experiencing similar struggles in their daily life without us even knowing. This is why I choose to share a few of my thoughts and experiences. I feel like the pandemic, we experienced in the last few months, made health a topic that isn’t that inexpressible anymore and urged a lot of people to think about the physical health of the public, our loved ones and of ourselves. Which is another reason why I decided to share a blog post on physical health from my current state of mind.

Some days people fighting a disease like cancer or who are living with chronicle sicknesses don’t even think of their problems every day and it feels just like living a normal life, despite taking a daily medicine or having a few more doctors appointments. But there are also days, when people experiencing an illness feel like giving up, as if they were defective in a way and are searching for any reason why such a thing would happen to them in particular. It can be consuming, searching for a reason, pondering about how to live happily after all and having a feeling of even being a burden for others. Mostly these very thought influence one mentally in a bad way while it is also physically difficult to handle for the person concerned. It is especially difficult to manage one’s own thoughts when experiencing setbacks in one’s health or when feeling weak and exhausted because of medications or when one’s physical appearance alternates due to certain side effects of new medications. Just to mention a few things some people are going through without you even knowing.

For me personally the thought that everything happens for a reason helps accepting certain things. Believing that my path is made for me specifically and nothing would cross my way if something like destiny wouldn’t think of me as strong enough to deal with it, empowers me. Still there are days I am wondering as well if I really can tackle certain problems and have the strength. Although for a lot of people, this may sound very spiritual, I reckon that there are a lot of different ways to deal with experiencing health issues and every concerned person needs to find its own way of dealing with its disease. Please keep in mind that this only is my personal approach I am sharing.

The main factors of handling a chronicle disease or something like cancer or leukemia is one’s surrounding and the strength and attitude towards life. It is easier to find purpose in living and to not focus too much on one’s sickness and how life would end if the people surrounding you treat you not any different or weak but are still there for you when you are struggling to cope physically or mentally.

I prepared a few things I consider important to know when being confronted with for example a chronically ill person:

ask the person something personal when sharing their diagnoses -e.g „How are you feeling right now concerning this certain disease?“
don’t doubt what they are sharing with you -e.g. „And the doctors are really sure about that?“ or avoid saying something like „I can’t believe that young people also can experience such a thing!“
show interest in their specific case instead of asking general question -e.g. „How has your life been different since the diagnosis?
offer your help -e.g. „If you need to talk or someone to pick you up after a doctors appointment, I’d be happy to help you out!“
ask a person directly about their well-being instead of addressing others (life partner for instance) in your surroundings -e.g. Avoid this: „Isn’t that pretty difficult having such a disease? (directed at another person but the actually ill one)“ And try saying this instead to the affected person: „I am sure this must have been hard on you.“
ask if the person is willing to share a few things and if it’s okay to be curious -e.g. „Is it fine with you to talk about it right now? I am not that familiar with this certain disease.“

Feel free to share personal experiences of yours in the comments or start a conversation with me via the message device in the contact section of the blog as I want this blog to be a space of understanding and personal growth.

golden milk:

During the cold season, especially with a global pandemic still happening, a delicious boost for our immune system is exactly what we need. This recipe contains ingredients that ar anti-inflammatory and provide your body with vitamin c.

ingredients:

turmeric (high in vitamin c and anti-inflammatory)
cinnamon (highly anti-inflammatory)
ginger (contains vitamin c as well)
vanilla extract
oat milk
lemon zest (contains vitamin c and is high in antioxidants)

instructions:

cut 4 streaks of lemon zest (approximately the size 1×3 cm)
chop 1 piece of unpeeled and washed ginger (1,5×1,5 cm)
bring 350 ml of oat milk to boil a little
lower the heat on medium heat
add the ginger and lemon zest
spice it up with 1 tbsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract
let it boil on low heat for about 10 minutes and stir occasionally
filter the milk from the spices and serve warm 🙂

noodle salad with basil pesto:

This recipe makes you feel like dining in a restaurant in Tuscany, at least it makes me feel that way for sure. This noodle salad is perfect as a side dish for a larger group while having a barbecue in summer, but is also delicious and quickly prepared during a work week in winter.

ingredients:

400g of pasta (I used vegan and gluten free fussily)
2 avocados
1 red bell pepper
a handful of cherry tomatoes
30g of fresh basil
garlic powder
dried oregano
dried thyme
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
balsamico vinegar
vegan feta https://violifefoods.com/de

instructions:

cook the pasta and set aside to cool off
mix 30g (a handful) of fresh basil with 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp of dried thyme, salt and pepper and 100ml olive oil
mix until its a smooth mixture
cut 2 avocados, 1 red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and the feta in small pieces
mix the vegan cheese and vegetables with the pasta
add the pesto and 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar as dressing

chocolate banana cake:

I love baking for friends and family on their birthdays. Back when I was a little kid, the most exciting thing on every holiday or birthday was definitely the food (I always loved eating). So I tried coming up with a delicious cake recipe for my flat mates birthday a month back.

ingredients:

220g flour
130g cocoa powder
2 tsp of baking soda
vanilla sugar
250g powdered sugar
150g butter
100g of melted chocolate
0,5l of oat milk
vegan whipped cream (I used a powder)
3 bananas

instructions:

for the cake:
- mix all of the following ingredients in a mixing bowl until its a smooth dough:
- 220g flour
- 130g cocoa powder
- 2tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of vanilla sugar
- 100g powdered sugar
- 25-30g melted butter
- 225ml oat milk
- 100g melted chocolate
- grease the cake tin and fill it up with the dough
- bake the dough for 30 minutes with 180 degrees
the cream:
- mix the powder for the vegan whipped cream with 200 ml of oat milk with a wist until it thickens a little
- separately mix 100g of butter with 150g powdered sugar for about 3 minutes with a hand mixer
- then add the whipped cream and mix with a hand mixer on high level
- if you want add a little bit of vanilla sugar or vanilla extract as well
- place the whipped cream in the fridge for 30 minutes
the garnishing:
- if you used a wider cake tin like I did = place 2 cut bananas on the cake then add the cream on top and add another cut banana
- if your used a higher and smaller cake tin = cut the cake carefully in half and put some cream between the two parts
- be creative with decorating 🙂

benefits of choosing slow fashion:

Personally I have always loved strolling through vintage, second-hand or thrift shops. When I was a child my favorite shows were „Full house“, „The Cosby Show“ or „That 70s Show“. Thus I adored the style of the late 20th century from a very young age.

Over the years, while growing up, a lot of different aspects about second-hand fashion caught my eye and made it more and more attractive. Here are only a few factors that you may as well reckon as amazing and choose slow fashion over regular fast fashion stores more often in 2021 🙂

First of all I want to mention the social benefits of thrifting and vintage shopping:

going to flee markets for example are a great tradition to pursue with a friend every other week.
every item seems to have some kind of history and is unique in its own way (for me it feels like a little treasure hunt)
you can create your own personal style instead of seeing dozens of other girls or boys running around in the exact same shirt

Furthermore, another significant aspect that needs to be considered is the environmental impact clothes shopping can have, or in case of second-hand not have:

second-hand shopping avoids complicated disposals
reusing old clothes can be very impactful in reducing carbon-dioxide emissions -e.g. In the UK 7 mil. tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions were avoided by charity shops in the period form 2015-16
up cycling or reusing old clothes saves precious resources such as water and oil due to the reduction in the production of new clothes

If you are curious about this topic here are a few articles I recommend on reading:

https://www.zerowasteaustria.at/umfrage-zu-second-hand-fashion.html

https://klimareporter.in/wie-unser-hunger-nach-fast-fashion-dem-klima-einheizt/

pita with jackfruit:

This is a meal for every occasion, whether you are having friends over or are on the run the whole day and want a prepared lunch to take with you.

ingredients:

pita bread
rep pepper
fresh spinach
soy yoghurt
2 cloves of garlic
1 small white onion
1 can of jackfruit
salt
pepper

instructions:

bake the pita breads in the oven with the instructions on your package
cut the onion and the bell pepper into thin stripes
for the jackfruit follow the instructions on the can (I roasted the jackfruit on medium heat for about 5 minutes)
season the jackfruit with some salt and pepper ( I also added a little bit of cumin)
for the yoghurt dip combine 5 tbsp of soy yoghurt with 2 crushed and very small cut cloves of garlic
cut the onion and the bell pepper into thin stripes
cut the bread open like a kebab (so you can hold it in one hand while filling it with the other)
as first layer add the yoghurt sauce and then arrange the spinach, pepper, onion and jackfruit and top again with some yoghurt

hot chocolate:

On very cold winter days a lazy afternoon cuddled up in a cozy blanket just feels great. But these relaxing days during winter and Christmas season only feel perfect with some hot chocolate as well.

ingredients:

50g chocolate
almond milk
almond butter
cocoa powder

instructions:

with low heat slowly melt 50g of chocolate
add 1 tbsp of almond milk to the already firmer chocolate and stir constantly until you have a smooth mass
put the melted chocolate into a food processor
add 300ml of almond milk, 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and 1 tbsp of almond butter
mix everything
after mixing heat the mixture on the oven or in the microwave (I heated the hot chocolate in the microwave for 50 seconds)

mental health

There are those days. Those days when everything just doesn’t feel right or when you just seem to feel nothing at all. I just let it come over me and just lay around doing nothing for a day or two to give my body time to calm down. Let these dark thoughts be and let my limbs feel tired.

But at times when you need to go outside or have to interact with people, on those days it is really easy to be misunderstood and feel overwhelmed. The feeling of projecting my sadness on others makes me feel bad and numb even more. Back when I was in school, I felt awful knowing I had to „perform“ for people in order to not make them feel bad as well. (definitely didn’t work most of the time)

Nowadays, I am really grateful and blessed to just let the days be as they are and that I can take my time to let these feelings come in a safe space at home surrounded by understanding people. I now let the sadness, this heavy feeling of being tired all the time, just come and try accepting these feelings as a part of life sometimes.

Although the tricky part is getting out of this dark place. After one day of just being, I really need to set aspirations for myself, meditate and do something I genuinely enjoy in order to get back to normal. As hard as it sounds, I strongly believe that the only one pulling one out of some kind of depressive episode is oneself, at least this was my experience.

P.S. This is a space, where I share my thoughts and personal experiences. Feel free to comment with your point of view.

Spinach pesto:

If you own a food processor you surely know how easy it is to make sauces, dips and more. To avoid buying food with preservatives or cancerous ingredients you just need to throw a few ingredients into the food processor and viola. _{(via testings miner oils have been found in some pestos currently on the market)}

ingredients:

garlic
fresh spinach
salt
olive oil

instructions:

add 2-3 cloves of garlic, 3 handful of spinach, 1 tsp of salt and 100 ml olive oil to the food processor
mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth
add seasoning at will (for me this was enough flavor)
store in the fridge in a jar for 3-4 days
I served the pesto with caramelized onions, cashews and gnocchi (1 tbsp of pesto is normally enough for one serving)